7

 

            After paying, she went ahead and picked a window seat just behind the rear exit doors that were glass from top to bottom. She asked if he wanted the window seat, but he shook his head.  Being  a good bit taller, he would have no trouble seeing above her head. As they drove off it came over her like a wave how incredible it was that this physical  body, which she had only know as a mind before, was just a few inches from her arms. Sean was feeling pretty high himself. She was really beautiful, both inside and outside.. When he had opened the last photo she sent, he almost choked on his apple.. She had the face of a model. Her long straight hair was fab.. And he had seen that she was more like his age. She had a lot going for her over all the onlilne dating he'd done, and other women he'd met up with that he had known from on online communities, like that film site.. Pickings were slim now a days in the daily life he lead in the little gateway village outside of Wexford with his small family business. It was hard to meet people to date, not like in the old days, in Dublin, while he and Sarah were working it out. Now, with the child and his mother Sarah who lived a mile up the road he had to interact with because of the boy, things were quite. And this girl next to him had been an important element in his daily life the past year, the one that had lasted, emailing a good bit back and forth each day.. Something about her attitude. An aura. Not trying to define everything, not sweating the small stuff. Always full of surprises, and hard to pin down. He was so tired of drama with women  And this one had been cool, well, till just before they left. But one else had he sharing music, film and art, like they had. A major sustained stimulus, beside his little boy. His attraction to her Dolly Parton  curves were not to be dismissed. Good god, But knew better than to  entertain the merer thought. This was a serious pilgrimage, holy or not, it was going to be life changing, and he was not disbelieving in St. James.. He and Chloe were mates, on the buddy system.

            She'd never been to Spain . The Greek islands had enticed her from a long time ago. The bus drove up and down rolling hills and along long ridged mountains. The houses and towns reminded her of Greece, but mellower. Stucco houses, often with red slate roofs, the courtyard garden, and fruit trees outside, not unlike in Hungary.  They drove through several towns which had none of the urban sprawl as back in the States, The buildings on either side when  they passed through on of the towns, were modern, the buildings all no higher than six stories, with apartments above and stores and cafes below. The locals were smartly dressed, cosmopolitan casual

            The humming of the engine, the swaying of the bus, and having gotten three hours sleep made her nod off  try as she might to keep her eyes open. She'd jerk to with a start, finding herself leaning into him as they were going through a curve After adjusting herself she continued to peer out at the countryside where she noticed the preponderance of windmills on the long ridged mountain----or were they just big hills? Then she noticed pilgrims walking by the side of the road. One woman with a couple of big dogs turned out from what looked like the path.  I t had not occurred to her that the Camimo crossed metropolitan centers or abutted  highways .She had thought it would be all idyllic pastoral paths from the Middle Ages.  That was what you saw in the youtube videos he shared with her.

            After a couple of hours they reached the Lugo bus station. It was one of those old fashioned bus stations with wooden benches and bars, not glass windows, across the ticket counter. She made it a point to stand in line with her money in hand to buy the next round of tickets . They waited outside on benches. He got up and  went back inside and came back with  some of his Kit Kats and Snickers.

             "Want some?" he asked as soon as he opened the Kit Kat and thrust it toward her.

             She laughed "no thanks"  and said,

            "But thanks for offering,'.

             The bus finally pulled up and along with other pilgrims straddled up like them. They stood in line, waited for the luggage compartment to open, slipped their packs in, and then piled into the bus, getting the front row seats. She was able to stay alert and feasted on the countryside, dozens of white windmills on the horizon everywhere, towns bustling with the Galicians, whose style she was liked. At last they arrived in Sarria and pulled into the bus terminal.

            They got their back packs and actually put them on their backs, not just slung on their shoudlers. He had his  John Brierley guide book out and invited her to take a look at the map of Sarria. As a girl she had learned from her father on their travels that the first thing you  do a new place is get a map. So she was looking at this map of Sarria she had never studied before and to where he was pointing to the old town. She assumed the top of the page was north and looked  like it would be on the other side of the fence where the buildings looked old., but when they asked, they were directed the other way, out the drive and a modern looking section.

            They walked in that direction pointed to them for the street Calvo Sotero. Along the practically deserted streets, they stopped the rare local.and asked how to get to Calvo Sotero.. She liked the good natured way he approached strangers. How friendly everyone was!

             But they just kept on walking around in circles, only then did she realize the map didd not have north at the top, but west. The bottom was east. But itt was fun meandering like that in the attractive but closed up retail section of Sarrria. The buildings were all about five stories high with apartments upstairs. And they kept asking people where Casa Mathis was. and continued walking around in circles. There were  no street sings to speak of..